Gazetteer/Almanac
Headnote
Williamsport, sometimes called Prunty Town, is the county-seat. It is situated near the ferry across Tygart's Valley River, 209 miles northwesterly from Richmond, and 18 NE. by E. from Clarksburg. It contains 3 stores, 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist church, and about 30 dwellings. Rector College, an institution founded in 1839, is located here; it had, by the census of 1840, 110 students. (Historical Collections, 1852)